23,226 research outputs found
Municipal Solid Waste Flow Control in the Post-Carbone World
Garbage will always ultimately be the government\u27s problem. Evolving environmental standards and state and federal policies will continue to require reasoned responses from local governments and municipal solid waste flow control is a vital cog in many jurisdictions\u27 solid waste management solutions. Without flow control of some form, governments\u27 ability to plan and provide for the most environmentally sound and economically acceptable solutions will wane, leaving the public vulnerable to the vagaries of a private market that does not have a duty to protect the public health and safety. The Carbone decision has blunted one of the local governments chief weapons-legislative flow control-and it appears Congress will not supply an adequate answer for many solid waste systems. More than ever, alternatives to legislative flow control will be needed to enable municipalities to fulfill their solid waste duties, to comply with federal and state mandates, and to provide workable, environmentally-sound, long-term solid waste programs serving the interests of the public health and safety. Local governments must act soon by examining these options and deciding which will best serve the public
Evaluation of the Strecker synthesis as a source of amino acids on carbonaceous chondrites
The Strecker synthesis (SS) has been proposed as the source of amino acids (AA) formed during aqueous alteration of carbonaceous chondrites. It is postulated that the aldehyde and ketone precursors of the meteoritic AA originated in interstellar syntheses and accreted on the meteorite parent body along with other reactant species in cometesimal ices. The SS has been run with formaldehyde, acetyldehyde, propionaldehyde, acetone, and methyl ketone as starting materials. To study the effect of minerals on the reaction, the SS was run in the presence and absence of dust from the Allende meteorite using deuterated aldehydes and ketones as starting materials. The products were studied by GC/MS. With the exception of glycine, the retention of deuterium in the AA was greater than 90 pct. Some D exchange with water does occur, however, and determination of the rate of exchange as a function of pH and temperature may allow some bounds to be placed on the duration of parent body aqueous alteration. The retention of D by the AA under conditions studied thus far is consistent with the model that a SS starting from interstellar aldehydes and ketones led to the production of meteoritic AA
Optical to Near-IR Spectrum of a Massive Evolved Galaxy at z = 1.26
We present the optical to near-infrared (IR) spectrum of the galaxy TSPS
J1329-0957, a red and bright member of the class of extremely red objects
(EROs) at z = 1.26. This galaxy was found in the course of the Tokyo-Stromlo
Photometry Survey (TSPS) which we are conducting in the southern sky. The
spectroscopic observations were carried out with the Gemini Multi-Object
Spectrograph (GMOS) and the Gemini Near Infra-Red Spectrograph (GNIRS) mounted
on the Gemini-South telescope. The wide wavelength coverage of 0.6 - 2.3 um
provides useful clues as to the nature of EROs while most published spectra are
limited to a narrower spectral range which is dictated by the need for
efficient redshift determination in a large survey. We compare our spectrum
with several optical composite spectra obtained in recent large surveys, and
with stellar population synthesis models. The effectiveness of using near-IR
broad-band data, instead of the spectral data, in deriving the galaxy
properties are also investigated. We find that TSPS J1329-0957 formed when the
universe was 2 - 3 Gyr old, and subsequently evolved passively to become one of
the most massive galaxies found in the z = 1 - 2 universe. Its early type and
estimated stellar mass of M* = 10^{11.5} Msun clearly point to this galaxy
being a direct ancestor of the brightest elliptical and spheroidal galaxies in
the local universe.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in Ap
Strong Optomechanical Squeezing of Light
We create squeezed light by exploiting the quantum nature of the mechanical
interaction between laser light and a membrane mechanical resonator embedded in
an optical cavity. The radiation pressure shot noise (fluctuating optical force
from quantum laser amplitude noise) induces resonator motion well above that of
thermally driven motion. This motion imprints a phase shift on the laser light,
hence correlating the amplitude and phase noise, a consequence of which is
optical squeezing. We experimentally demonstrate strong and continuous
optomechanical squeezing of 1.7 +/- 0.2 dB below the shot noise level. The peak
level of squeezing measured near the mechanical resonance is well described by
a model whose parameters are independently calibrated and that includes thermal
motion of the membrane with no other classical noise sources.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figure
Orbital Landau level dependence of the fractional quantum Hall effect in quasi-two dimensional electron layers: finite-thickness effects
The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) in the second orbital Landau level
at filling factor 5/2 remains enigmatic and motivates our work. We consider the
effect of the quasi-2D nature of the experimental FQH system on a number of FQH
states (fillings 1/3, 1/5, 1/2) in the lowest, second, and third Landau levels
(LLL, SLL, TLL,) by calculating the overlap, as a function of quasi-2D layer
thickness, between the exact ground state of a model Hamiltonian and the
consensus variational wavefunctions (Laughlin wavefunction for 1/3 and 1/5 and
the Moore-Read Pfaffian wavefunction for 1/2). Using large overlap as a
stability, or FQHE robustness, criterion we find the FQHE does not occur in the
TLL (for any thickness), is the most robust for zero thickness in the LLL for
1/3 and 1/5 and for 11/5 in the SLL, and is most robust at finite-thickness
(4-5 magnetic lengths) in the SLL for the mysterious 5/2 state and the 7/3
state. No FQHE is found at 1/2 in the LLL for any thickness. We examine the
orbital effects of an in-plane (parallel) magnetic field finding its
application effectively reduces the thickness and could destroy the FQHE at 5/2
and 7/3, while enhancing it at 11/5 as well as for LLL FQHE states. The
in-plane field effects could thus be qualitatively different in the LLL and the
SLL by virtue of magneto-orbital coupling through the finite thickness effect.
In the torus geometry, we show the appearance of the threefold topological
degeneracy expected for the Pfaffian state which is enhanced by thickness
corroborating our findings from overlap calculations. Our results have
ramifications for wavefunction engineering--the possibility of creating an
optimal experimental system where the 5/2 FQHE state is more likely described
by the Pfaffian state with applications to topological quantum computing.Comment: 27 pages, 20 figures, revised version (with additional author) as
accepted for publication in Physical Review
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